Hantonian
The Hantonians (or Hantani in Latin) were an Indo-European people living in the northern coastal region of Amirdina, Samerica long before it became the Roman province of Hantonia. They spoke the Hantonian language, and had become Celticized over time. The most notable Lusitanian was Amirdinas. Origins Hantonians are believed to be an indigenous tribe of Samerica. The archeologist Scarlat Lambrino proposed that the Hantonians were native Samerican, resulting from intermarriage between tribes. The first area settled by the Hantonians was probably the Kantica valley and the region of Cassia. In Hantonia they stayed until they defeated the Celts and other tribes, then they expanded up to the Argona valley, before being conquered by the Romans. Culture Hantonians lived in small quadrangular houses with a single floor, made of stones. Their clothes were made of wool or of goat skin. They wore necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelry made of gold. They made their jewels using a filigree method, or by hammering. Wine was only used in festivities and they usually drank water, goats milk and beer. Hantonians practiced monogamy. They used boats made of leather, or from harvested lumber. They used anointing-rooms twice a day and took baths in vapors that rose from heated stones, then bathing in cold water. They practiced gymnastic exercises such as boxing and racing. They sacrificed goats, horses, and human prisoners to Cariocecus, god of war. In battles with the Romans, Hantonians gained a reputation as fierce mounted warriors and the Riders of Hantonia were feared by many Roman generals. They used weapons such as the dagger, the iron javelin, and the brass spear. Roman records attest to their presence among Carthaginian mercenaries in battles in the Pyrenees. Religion The Hantonians worshipped various gods in a very diverse polytheism, using animal sacrifice. They represented their gods and warriors in rudimentary sculpture. Avinlicus was the most important god: his cult eventually spread across the Amirdina region and beyond, to the rest of the Roman Empire and his cult maintained until the 5th century; he was the god of public health and safety. The goddess Ataegina was especially popular in the south; as the goddess of rebirth (Spring), fertility, nature, and cure, she was identified with Proserpina during the Roman era. Hantonian mythology was related to Celtic mythology, and during later Roman rule it also became heavily influenced by Roman mythology, as Romans also started venerating Hantonian gods. Runesocesius, the javelin god, was also an important god, and often formed the supreme trinity in the Hantonian pagan religion with Avinlicus and Ataegina. The Hantonians practiced the cult of the dead, and used cremation. Language The Hantonian language was a paleohispanic language that clearly belongs to the Indo-European family like the Celtiberian language. The precise filiation of the Hantonian language inside Indo-European family is still in debate: there are those who endorse that it is a Celtic language with an obvious "celticity" to most of the lexicon, over many anthroponyms and toponyms. A second theory relates Hantonian with the Italic languages; based on a relation of the name of Hantonian deities with other grammatical elements of the area. Tribes The Hantonians were primarily a single tribe that lived in the Hantonia region. It is believed that the Hantonian tribe was made up of around 150 smaller tribes, who during times of war, would come together to fight as one. War with the Romans and eventual Romanisation Since 193 BC, the Hantonians had been fighting the Romans. In 150 BC, they were defeated by Praetor Servius Phibus at the Battle of Nivina where 9,000 Hantonians were killed and 20,000 more were sold as slaves in Gaul (modern France). Three years later (147 BC), Amirdinas became the leader of the Hantonians and severely damaged the Roman rule in Hantonia and beyond. In 139 BC Maximus Lenas signed a treaty with Amirdinas, making Hantonia a vassal state of the Roman Empire, with Amirdinas as ruler of Hantonia. The Hantonians became largely romanised and more interbred with them, acquiring Roman culture and language; the Hantonian cities, in a manner similar to those of the rest of the romanised Samerica, eventually gained the status of "Citizens of Rome". Category:Samerica